Warning: Some violence and a lot of swearing.

"Sugawara-san."

Suga sighed. It was unnerving having Kageyama watch him while he got ready despite his orders to stay in bed. He'd hoped Kageyama had just wanted to be by someone and they wouldn't have to talk. No such luck.

"Yes?"

Kageyama hesitated for a moment, brooding in silence before crossing his arms and giving Suga a hard glare, "You better not tell anyone what happened last night."

"Alright fine, I won't."

Kageyama nodded but still stared at him as Sugawara rushed around the small cabin, throwing somethings into a bag and kicking stuff away from the middle of the floor where someone could trip.

"You better not."

"What is with you and all your empty threats!"

"Who said they're empty!" Kageyama shouted back, "And you threaten me too!"

Sugawara rolled his eyes, "When have I ever threatened you."

"Yesterday! You said everyone on deck was going to slaughter me."

"That's because it was the truth. I didn't threaten you, I saved your butt."

"Yeah well you also kept threatening to throw me overboard."

"That was a warning." Sugawara dismissed.

Kageyama's face soured with anger and frustration. He sat up straighter after, crossing his arms, "Are you stupid! That was a threat!"

"I'm not stupid. And it wasn't a threat. I warned you to the consequences of your actions."

"It was a THREAT! You're dumb Sugawara-san"

"Call me Suga-san, everyone does." Sugawara redirected the subject instead of arguing further.

It seemed to subdue Tobio for a minute, "You can call me Kageyama."

Suga snorted, "Yeah, I know, you already told-or, no, you already ordered me to call you that."

Kageyama crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall. He didn't say anything, which Suga took to mean he agreed. "Anyway, I'm pretty much done here, so we should get back to the infirmary."

The prince wrinkled his nose but stood up and followed Suga down the dark hallways back to the medical room.

When they arrived, Ukai was already sitting in a chair and he glared at Sugawara before turning his angry gaze on Kageyama. "Wasn't he supposed to be unconscious?"

"Things change." Sugawara said, and then turned to Asahi who'd tucked himself in a corner as if he didn't want to be noticed. "Anyway, Asahi, shouldn't you be giving Kageyama his medicine now?" he asked as Kageyama crawled back up on the bed.

"Yeah." Asahi murmured grabbing a small wooden bowl with medical substance sloshing inside.

"What is it?" Kageyama asked, not making a move to take it.

"Doesn't matter what it is. Take it before I shove it down your throat." Ukai snarled, giving Kageyama a hard stare.

"It will bring your fever down, maybe make you a little sleepy." Asahi explained while Sugawara leveled Ukai with a disapproving look.

"I don't want it." Kageyama said and went to knock it out of Asahi's hands.

Ukai grabbed Kageyama's wrist before he could, "Let me go old man!" he snarled, trying to pull away from his grip.

"You little shit, I'll teach you some fucking manners since the Fire Nation didn't even bother." Ukai spat out 'Fire Nation' like it was poison on his tongue.

"That's enough, Ukai." Sugawara tried to keep calm but he could understand the second in command's annoyance. Still, Suga pried Kageyama's wrist out of the other man's grip and said, "Kageyama, I thought we already talked about being grateful."

Kageyama gritted his teeth, "We didn't talk you just yelled at me, you fucking peasant."

"Better than being a bratty prince." Sugawara said. "While Ukai's own lack of manners is rather hypocritical—"

"—Hey!"

"—I expected better from you."

"You WHAT!" Ukai cried, "Better from him? The fucking Fire Nation prince? He kills babies!"

"I don't kill babies, but I bet you do, bastard!"

"Guys, calm down." Asahi said sweating nervously.

"Both of you shut your mouths, before your stupidity spreads to the rest of this ship!" Sugawara snapped, and then turned to Kageyama, "The medicine will help you feel better, you should take it."

"I don't take things from strangers."

"You took the food yesterday."

"Yeah and look what happened with that!"

"But this is different, Asahi knows what he's doing. Come on, you're burning up."

"No." Kageyama curled up in bed and yanked the covers over his entire body.

"Well, you suck." Asahi grumbled.

"Do you want to take it now, or after we get back?" Sugawara asked.

Kageyama was silent for a moment before he said, "Second one."

"Okay, you promise?" There was a slight movement from under the blankets which Suga interpreted as a nod. "Alright then, we're going. Ukai, you better not lay a hand on him or I swear I'll hurt you."

Ukai just waved his hand dismissively, "Get outta here, I'm sick of seeing your faces."

Sugawara just smiled and he and Asahi waved before shutting the door.

When Kageyama heard the door close and the threat of medicine was effectively neutralized, he poked his head out from underneath the covers.

His head was pounding and it felt like his face was on fire, but his body was wracked with chills, and he didn't know if he could stand properly, but there was no way he was taking any medicine. Not when they came back either, he just said that to get Sugawara off his back.

It took both Oikawa and Iwaizumi to hold him down and force his mouth open so Kunimi could get the medicine down.

Kageyama didn't know why he hated it so much, he'd tasted nastier things before, like mud socks, but he hated the feeling of it in his throat, and he hated to think one wrong ingredient could possibly kill him. Really, he just hated the entire concept of medicine.

"So, how long will they be gone?"

Ukai shrugged in response and Kageyama couldn't think of anything else to say.

Normally silence was fine by him, but this felt awkward, like there was a heaviness pressing on him where words should be. A suffocating quiet. "What do you do for fun?" that was probably a stupid question. Adults didn't have fun, after all.

Ukai raised an eyebrow, "I'm not here to make friends with you, kid."

"I steal food from the kitchen, and run away from my brother, and practice firebending with him, and hide Iwaizumi's helmet, and hide when they're looking for me."

"You really are a little brat aren't you?"

"I'm not a brat." Kageyama grumbled. He was usually well behaved when it came to important things, but it was hard to act like that all the time.

It was really dumb to leave him here like this. He was pretty sure if he set the ship on fire, Ukai would be more worried about putting it out than catching him. But where would he go, was the question. He didn't know where Oikawa was, didn't have any way to contact him. And he was Fire Nation, so people didn't exactly like him, thought they tolerated his presence. People always liked Oikawa more than him anyway.

Maybe if he were able to find Fire Nation guard, they would surely recognize him, even if he was draped in Water Tribe colors. Could he take that chance? It was risky, but staying here longer was risky too. Who knew how long he'd last?

"I know what you're thinking."

Kageyama tensed, "You do?"

Ukai nodded, "You're thinking about escaping, aren't you." He gave a grin, but it was dangerous. "I know Suga told me not to hurt you, but if you do anything rash, I don't care what he said. I will hurt you, got that. I will break that scrawny, little neck of yours, and I won't feel sorry about it."

"I just want to go home." Kageyama couldn't help but defend himself. "If you were trapped on a Fire Nation boat, wouldn't you try to leave as fast as possible!"

"I wouldn't be stupid enough to get caught on a Fire Nation ship, but fine, yes I would. There's a difference between you and us though. You would kill me first chance you got."

"That's not true!" maybe it was a little true, but Kageyama didn't see how that was necessarily a bad thing. This was war, wasn't it? Kageyama understood he was a prince, he may be a valuable bargaining tool, but he didn't kid himself into thinking these people would've treated him the same had he not been royalty. Ukai held no value to the Fire Nation. That was the difference between them.

"Oh yeah? You're fucking naïve."

Kageyama recoiled at the word. "Too innocent for your own damn good."

"I'm not naïve nor am I innocent!" Kageyama did want to set something on fire then, the sole purpose being that he was angry. His heart started pounding faster and he gritted his teeth. "I'll admit we'd kill you. But you're just a soldier of the Water Tribe, you hold no value to the Fire Nation. There's a difference between us."

Ukai snorted, "Maybe."

"And I am not fucking innocent! I've seen things too, I know people can be evil too! I'm not naïve or innocent enough to think anything else! I'm not stupid enough to believe all this is anything more than a way to get an upper hand on the Fire Nation!"

"Yeah, you're pretty much right for once, kid."

Kageyama glared at him and crossed his arms, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, I know old man."

Ukai's eye twitched and Kageyama smirked, rolling over in bed.

"I don't want to stop at this port."

Iwaizumi sighed, staring at the crowned prince from his position across the room. He was leaning back, legs crossed, the picture of nonchalance. Iwaizumi hated it, it made his ears buzz and his foot tap a little faster. "Look, we're running low on food."

"No we're not."

"You're right." Iwaizumi conceded, "We aren't running low on food since Tobio isn't here. But, when he gets back the food won't last for more than two or three days."

"Then we'll get the food when he gets back." Oikawa shrugged and stood up, turning his back on the conversation. Iwaizumi couldn't figure out if that meant he was done with the conversation or he wanted to get punched, because Iwaizumi was very close to going with the latter.

"Or we could do it now and get it over with."

Oikawa groaned, dropping his head into his hands, "They were already ahead of us when we started this journey. What if we stop in port now and lose them!"

Iwaizumi frowned and sighed, "Well, how do you know they didn't stop in port?"

"Because it's dumb! Didn't they already get a bunch of supplies back home! If they were smart they would've filled up there. We are not stopping this boat."

Before Iwaizumi could respond, Kindaichi popped his head into the room, looking a little nervous. "Uh… is this a bad time."

"What is it?" Iwaizumi asked.

"We're out of medicine."

The second in command turned back to Oikawa who was gritting his teeth, "Well then, guess we'll have to stop, won't we?"

Iwaizumi smirked, "As you wish, crowned prince."

Oikawa sneered, "Don't feign respect, we both know you were biting my head off not two minutes ago."

"Appearances can be deceiving." He gave a mock bow and left the prince's chambers before he could complain and let out a sigh of relief.

"Um… Iwaizumi-san."

"Yes?" Iwaizumi turned to Kindaichi who was frowning down at him. "Why did you have me throw all the medicine overboard?"

"Because I did."

"It didn't seem like Oikawa-sama knew about it."

"Excellent observation, he did not know about it. And what he doesn't know won't hurt him. So shh."

"Right… why do you want to stop so bad, exactly?"

Iwaizumi put a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "Just a feeling."

Oikawa glared at the spot Iwaizumi had previously been standing in. All the medicine being out sounded suspicious. No one had gotten ill recently, and they'd just stocked up a few weeks ago. There was no way it was all gone, that was just absurd.

Oikawa tapped his foot and paced his room, thinking. Normally, he hated stopping, but now that Tobio was somewhere out there in the vast sea with people who were very obviously their enemies, he wanted to stop even less.

He couldn't really understand what Iwaizumi was thinking with this forced stop, but it wasn't as if he couldn't stop now. They needed medicine in case someone got sick, and in case Tobio was sick if-when they found him.

Backed into a corner, there wasn't much he could do.

He sighed and left his chambers, choosing instead to go up on deck and watch the waves rock the boat. "You know, they say most children die within 24 hours of abduction." Oikawa didn't know who he was speaking to exactly, maybe himself, but someone answered him anyway.

"You know, I don't think it's been 24 hours yet." And that was Kunimi, also staring out at the waves as if he didn't have a job to do.

"Well, no. But I said within. Which means he could be dead right now and this entire search is for nothing."

"They'd be dumb to kill a prince of the Fire Nation." Was all Kunimi said in response, and Oikawa couldn't deny that. It would be dumb. The Water Tribe didn't know he wasn't much of a valuable hostage, and father wouldn't really care if he were to die.

Because even though between the two of them, Oikawa was the better firebender, leader, prince, and was smarter than Tobio could ever be, it wasn't as if his younger brother didn't have that potential.

His father didn't see it that way, Tobio wasn't necessary to the bloodline in his eyes, and for much of his teenage years, Oikawa had thought the very same thing. And he admitted he also agreed with that for so long because he was jealous. Tobio was a prodigy when it came to firebending, the only reason for Oikawa's superiority in the art was age and experience. He had no doubt Tobio would surpass his skill one day, maybe even soon.

He just had to hope that if the Water Tribe did decide they wanted to use him for money, they sent the ransom note to him and not his father. His father would tell them to kill Tobio, because no matter how reasonable their demands, Tobio wasn't worth a single gem in his father's eyes

"You're right, it would be dumb." Oikawa admitted and then shrugged, "But then again this is the Water Tribe, I wouldn't put anything past them."

"That's true."

Oikawa glanced at Kunimi and then out at the water again, "So why are you encouraging me? I thought you didn't really like Tobio-chan."

"I don't." Kunimi said. "He would make a terrible Firelord, and he gets on my nerves. That doesn't mean I want him to die, and it doesn't mean I want you to think morbidly."

"So, you're worried about me?"

"Essentially, yes."

"Aw, that's cute of you Aki-chan."

Kunimi didn't say anything, simply pulled away from the ledge and walked back downstairs. "Meanie! Cutting off our conversation." Oikawa pouted, "Aki-chan~!" but he was ignored. "I'm your crowned prince, dammit, no one treats me with respect on this ship." He crossed his arms and looked sadly into the water.

That was partly Tobio's fault. He was constantly making a mess of things and disobeying, and being a little brat. And Oikawa let him, let them both be childish. He figured they both deserved that much.

Soon, an Earth Kingdom city came into view and with it, a port.

"Okay you four, don't buy too much, and stay together." Sugawara told Yachi, Tsukki, Hinata, and Yamaguchi.

"Okay! Let's go!" Hinata grabbed Yachi's hand and raced off into the crowd of people, Yamaguchi trying to keep up, and Tsukki trailing along half-heartedly.

Yachi couldn't believe Hinata could run so fast. Yachi felt like she could keel over and die right there in the middle of town. "Hinata-kun, slow down!" she huffed, her legs starting to cramp.

Instantly, Hinata came to an immediate halt, causing Yachi to slam into him and they both tumbled to the ground. "Are you guys okay?" Yamaguchi asked, pushing through the crowd to get to them.

"Yeah, we're alright." Yachi said with a small smile. They'd only been here for a couple minutes and already things weren't off to a great start.

"Sorry for running off. I just got excited," Hinata gave a nervous smile, slowly standing back up.

"It's okay, just don't go running off on your own again."

"Or better yet, run off on your own and never come back." Tsukki grumbled, but from Hinata and Yamaguchi's animated talking, she'd be willing to bet they missed the insult. She still glared at him however, and shook her head with a sigh.

"Okay, so where do we want to go first?" Yamaguchi asked, staring at all the shops they could enter.

"We should go in that one!" Hinata pointed to the shop cloaked in darkness with scary looking men on the outside, and grouchy customers stomping out.

"Um… Hinata-kun, maybe we shouldn't."

But Hinata was already sprinting towards it before Yachi could stop him, and she followed him because she couldn't let him face the scary people alone. Maybe they weren't really scary and it was just her, but these people were huge. Shorter than Tsukki, but with ten times the muscle.

They looked a bit like Ukai, but meaner, if that was possible.

Yachi kept her head down when she entered the shop, repeatedly looking behind her to make sure no one was following her around, and perusing the shelves to seem natural.

Hinata was bounding around the dark shop, that she now realized was actually a ship because of the slight sway it gave. She hadn't noticed before.

"Hinata-kun, what are you looking for?"

"I don't know, just stuff. And wow these swords look cool! Ooo, and this mask, and oh my goodness look at these scrolls!" Hinata bounced around everywhere, and while the shop keeper didn't say anything, he did look annoyed, and he also looked mean.

"Look here, Yachi-chan, these look like waterbending scrolls."

That caught Yachi's attention.

She walked over to get a look for herself and found Hinata was right. "Wow these look like they're from our tribe. They're amazing." She ran her fingers along the parchment, over the artwork and explanations of the techniques. She was sure Sugawara would love this too. "Um, sir, how much is this?" She asked, placing the scroll on the counter.

The man grinned at her and gave a nasty price. Yachi wrinkled her nose at the man's fowl breath and groaned softly. That would take nearly all the money they'd brought with them, and they needed to use that for necessities as well as personal items. It wouldn't be realistic to spend it on the water scroll alone. "Let's go," she murmured to Tsukki and Yamaguchi who were in the corner of the shop while Hinata tried to barter with the man about a pricey mask.

"Hey, you want the water scroll right?" Tsukki asked.

Yachi nodded, glancing at the parchment in her hand, "Yeah, but it's too expensive."

Tsukki only gave her a look before grabbing the wrist holding the scroll and placing it directly in front of her body so it wasn't visible to the shop keeper. Then, he stood in front of her, so it was hard to see from the front too. "Shrimp, let's go." Tsukki called and tilted his head to the door, pulling Yachi along.

Hinata looked sad before placing the mask back and running after them. "But… But Tsukishima-kun!" Yachi protested softly.

"Shh."

And they left the shop with the scroll still in her hand. "Nothing's too expensive if you just take it." He gave her a sharp smile, "Besides, that scroll practically already belongs to us anyway."

"But what if they find out!"

"They will find out. That's why we're gonna run, right now."

And they did, ducking into the crowd right as the shop keeper screamed, "Thief," while running after them.

Tsukki couldn't hide well in a crowd, and neither could Yamaguchi for that matter, but Hinata and Yachi slipped in easier. "You guys go that way, and we'll go this way." Tsukki said, grabbing Yamaguchi's hand and running the opposite direction.

By then more men had started chasing after them and split up to chase them too. "What happened!" Hinata cried, "Why'd you steal that thing!"
"I didn't want to, it just happened!" Yachi shouted back, sweat starting to build on her brow. "But it doesn't matter now, we just have to run!"

"It's strange the kids aren't back yet." Sugawara commented as they brought a few things they bought on to the ship.

"Don't worry Suga, they'll be back soon, I'm sure."

"Oh, I don't doubt that, it's just usually they'd be back by now but since Yachi and Hinata are there too this time, it makes sense they'd take a little longer."

"You just want to make sure your new little firebender friend isn't dead."

"Oh yeah?" Suga asked challengingly. "Well you just want to get soaked."

"What do you—" then Daichi was soaked head to toe from Sugawara dropping sea water on top of him. Daichi didn't say anything for a moment, blinking away the water before he grumbled, "That was just hilarious."

"I know." Sugawara smirked.

"Um, guys, I love your horrible attempts at flirting on a normal day, but maybe you should pay more attention to your surroundings!"

"And I usually love your horrible attempts at jokes, Tanaka, but that one really wasn't funny." Sugawara said, smiling so he didn't strangle him.

"Well it's about to get a whole lot less funny because of the Fire Nation ship that looks a lot like the one the prince was on, is coming this way."

"I would like to point out, that that is a good observation, except pretty much all Fire nation boats look exactly the same."

"Okay, fine, they do. But who cares! Fire Nation equals bad! We gotta get the fuck outta here!"

Sugawara could admit that, yes, Tanaka was right about that. They needed to leave. "Alright, Daichi, help me find the kids. You guys get the boat ready to leave."

Tanaka nodded, saluting.

"Why do you give more orders than I do half the time."

"Well what were you going to say?" Suga asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, I was going to say the same thing, but still!"

"We're just on the same brain wave, I happen to say what we're thinking first."

"But—"

"We should split up." Sugawara interrupted before he could finish his thought. "Which way do you want to go?"

"Uh, I'll go this way, you go that way." Daichi said. Sugawara nodded and hurried in the direction Daichi was pointing.

As Suga roamed the market, able to see over some people and get a better view, until that view was inevitably obstructed by someone taller. "Yachi! Yamaguchi!" he called, peering around the shoulder of one guy.

Then someone bumped into him while they were running past, almost knocking him to the floor. "Hey, watch it, jerk!" Suga growled, and looked up.

"Suga-san?" Yamaguchi asked, grabbing Tsukki's arm to stop him from running.

"What are you two running around and bumping into people for!"

Yamaguchi opened his mouth to answer but didn't get a chance because someone screamed, "Thief!" above the crowd, and above whatever excuse he'd been about to give.

"What did you two do." Sugawara glared at them.

"We just stole something, it's not a big deal."

"That's actually a major deal, and you two are in so much trouble!"

"Not when you see what it is." Tsukki smirked and Sugawara didn't like his snarky attitude.

"Come on, let's go, the Fire Nation is here. You know what that means. We have to get out right now, and if you hadn't gone on your little adventure, we'd be sailing safely away right now!"

"Don't blame us for what the Fire Nation decides to do."

"I'm not blaming you for the Fire Nation being here, I'm just saying that if you hadn't… Kei, that better not have been an eyeroll."

"It was."

"Guys, let's go." Yamaguchi urged, glancing nervously behind them at the scary-looking man who was getting awfully close.

"Okay fine," Sugawara still glared at Tsukki as they ran off, however.

Hinata and Yachi ran from the men chasing them, ducking in and out of obscure side streets, climbing over boxes and crawling inside crates. Hinata was much swifter than Yachi, like the rules of gravity didn't apply to him.

Even though that was kind of true. "Hinata-kun, slow down." Yachi panted.

"We can't, if we slow down they're going to catch us! We have to keep going."

As they ran, Hinata was scouting the crowds for familiar faces, Yamaguchi's, Sugawara's, Takeda's, hell, he'd even be happy to see Tsukishima's face at this point in their chase.

"Hinata-kun, look! I think that's Daichi-san."

Hinata skidded to a halt and turned to look in the direction Yachi was pointing. Sure enough, Daichi was moving, the crowd almost parting for him as he did so.

They changed directions so fast, Yachi stepped on Hinata's heel and Hinata stumbled. Yachi slammed into him and they both tumbled to the ground. "Ouch." Yachi winced and Hinata groaned. Their hands were now scraped, and Hinata wasn't an expert doctor, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't be a good idea to put their bloody hands together.

Hinata turned back toward the crowd, "Daic—" Hinata started but was cut off by a hand grabbing his wrist and a yelp escaped him.

"Give me the scroll little girl, or your friend dies."

Hinata yanked desperately at his arm in the man's grip, but he wasn't strong enough to pull himself free. "Yachi-chan, run, I'll be fine!"

The man chuckled darkly, "No you won't," and a fist collided with his face. Hinata yelped, and smacked on the concrete, unable to right himself in time.

Hinata lifted a hand to his head, and felt something warm trickle down his face, something that smelled nasty.

"Hey, what's going on."

Hinata lifted his head to see Daichi, standing over him with his arms crossed, glaring at the man in front of them.

"This girl stole something from my shop." The man offered, as if that would explain everything.

"Look, I don't have time for this. Yachi, give this guy whatever you stole, back. We have to go."

Hinata heard Yachi mumble something under her breath. "What?" Daichi asked.

"I said I'm not giving it back!" she shouted and grabbed Hinata's wrist, smearing her blood all over his wrist. Daichi started running with them, but his face was carefully blank so Hinata had no way of knowing what he was thinking.

"Don't just run aimlessly." He barked. "We have to get back to the ship. Fire Nation is here."

"What?" Yachi breathed.

"Follow me," Daichi took hold of Hinata's other wrist and they were pulled in the opposite direction, though no one stumbled this time. "Come on, we have to hurry, I don't want another fight."

Hinata bit his lip. This was all his fault, he should've taken them back to the ship instead of dragging Yachi all over town for no reason. Now the Water Tribe might have to deal with more enemies.

Soon they burst through the crowd of people where Sugawara was already standing by the boat with Tsukki and Yamaguchi. He wasn't moving though, and it took Hinata all of five seconds to realize why as his eyes landed on red uniforms.

"Well, looks like more have come to join the party." The brown-haired one said, his smile imitating playfulness, but Hinata could see through it, down to where his bloodthirst lay.

"My party, and your crashing it, so I'd really appreciate it if you leave."

"But now that I'm here you guys can really have fun. I don't think I've properly introduced myself yet. I'm Oikawa Tooru, crowned prince of the Fire Nation. And you?"

"I'm the bitch who's going to drag you to hell."

"Suga, Yachi is right here."

Sugawara paused and then glanced sheepishly down at Yachi, "Oops, guess I got a bit too into it."

"If you want to get more into it, you could give me this dance."

"Oikawa you better cut it out with the shitty party metaphors. You want your brother back or not? Get your head out of your ass and go get him. We can handle these guys, and I know you can handle everyone else on board, so go!"

Oikawa flinched, "Okay, okay, no need to yell at me." He grumped.

"Yachi, Hinata, stand back, okay." Daichi said.

No one had any weapons, but they were prepared to fight. Hinata didn't like violence, but he admired their determination, even if it might get them killed. "Hinata-kun, what are they going to do. They don't have any weapons." Yachi whispered, her voice filled with fear.

Hinata didn't want to admit it, but he was scared too, and shaking just as much as her. He didn't understand why he had to get scared of tall, intimidating people, but unless overpowered by his excitement, it was his natural reaction.

"First step, you blind the enemy."

Yachi and Hinata watched Suga summon a wave from the ocean and dump it over the Fire Nation soldiers.

While they blinked salt from their eyes, Daichi swept one off their feet and elbowed another in the head. The helmet protected the soldier from the brunt of Daichi's attack, but he still lost his balance and fell.

"Yachi-chan." Hinata murmured. She glanced at him and he pulled her up. "Come on, we have to get on that boat, and we have to make sure everyone's okay."

Yachi nodded, even though she looked terrified, and together they slowly made their way onto the boat.

"You hear something?" Kageyama asked, hoping the noise wasn't the return of the Water Tribe because then he'd have to take his medicine.

"I don't hear a damn thing, kid. Get your ears checked.

As he said that, the door to the infirmary opened and Asahi walked in. "Oh thank goodness I'm out of that market place. I nearly died in there." He chuckled to himself, setting the medicine he'd bought on the counters. "So, how were things here?"

"Awful."

"Good." Kageyama said and pouted at Ukai's answer.

"Okay, and what about that medicine. You ready to take it now?"

Kageyama shook his head and buried himself under the covers again. "Those blankets aren't gonna do much to save you, kid. Just saying. When Suga gets here he's gonna rip those suckers off and shove the stuff down your throat."

"No." was all Kageyama said in response.

Asahi laughed.

"You won't be saying no when that medicine's going down your throat. All you'll be doing is gagging. And if you throw it up I'll beat your ass."

"You know, Ukai, maybe you could be a little nicer to him?"

"You're lucky I didn't throw him overboard while you were gone. Be grateful."

Kageyama whined and kicked the bed frame. "Stop being a whiny brat!"

As Ukai said that, the door to the infirmary slammed open. "No, Suga-san, I won't take it." Kageyama said.

"My dear brother is not a brat!"

Kageyama peeked his head out from under the covers when he heard the exclamation, "Oikawa?"

"Well, actually he is a brat, I just felt the need to make a dramatic entrance. Now hand him over." Oikawa said, looking determined.

"Not in your life, Fire Nation." Kageyama saw something shiny in Ukai's hand and the next thing he knew that something was pressed to his throat, and it was sharp. Kageyama could feel it pricking his skin.

"Back away, get on your stupid boat, and leave us alone unless you want your dear brother to get his throat sliced open."

Oikawa ignored Ukai's request. "What do you want with him!"

"Don't know yet. We'll figure it out."

"If you expect him to end this war, that's a fool's dream, Water Tribe." Oikawa sneered.

"Not win the war. Maybe get a little money though."

"Well name your price. I'll pay it now."

"Don't think so. At this point, we're too compromised. Depending on how many of our Tribe survive after this skirmish, we'll discuss price."

"I am not leaving my brother alone with you ruffians, for one moment longer!"

"You don't have much of a choice, now do you? Get out of here, we'll send a message when we decide what to do."

"When YOU decide what to do!" Oikawa clenched his fists, barely holding back a snarl in his tone.

"Yeah, when WE decide what to do, bastard. Now get off the ship, round up your soldiers, get your ass on your fucking boat and let us go. Then we'll see."

"Ukai-san!" a feminine voice from down the hallway, and the blonde who turned Kageyama in appeared with the orange-haired boy.

"You damn kids, get out of here!" Ukai growled.

Kageyama could tell Oikawa was thinking the same thing he was thinking, because he grabbed the blonde's wrist and yanked her towards him. "You like taking hostages, huh? Well now I have one of my own. Hand over my brother, or I'll burn her face off."

"Let go of me!" the girl shouted, yanking at her wrist. "That hurts!"

"Well stop pulling, and it won't hurt." Oikawa said, civility barely maintained.

"Let her go!" the Avatar sent a large blast of wind at Oikawa that knocked him off his feet, the blonde and him tumbling into each other.

"Yachi-chan, come on. Ukai-san looks like he knows what he's doing. We just got in the way."

"… Yeah." Yachi murmured staring at the ground as the Avatar helped her up. "Come on," and Kageyama's last chance of escape went running down the hallway.

"Dammit." Oikawa muttered, sitting up, and turned back to Ukai and Kageyama. "You wouldn't really slit his throat, that's just a bluff."

"You think so?" Kageyama felt the blade dig in further, small beads of blood forming where the knife cut, but he refused to make a sound. It didn't hurt that much anyway.

He only wished he could get into a position to firebend. Then they could escape, then he could finally go home.

"Get out."

Oikawa gave Kageyama a long look, probably considering all his options, not that he had many. "Fine." Oikawa said at last. "I'll be back, Tobio-chan. Just hang in there.

"Okay." Kageyama grumbled weakly. Oikawa took a couple steps back, and then he turned and ran.

Only after he left did Ukai move the blade away and Asahi rushed over with a cloth to put pressure on his neck with. "You guys are lucky it was me." Ukai said. "Anyone else would've let that bastard run off with the prince and kill us all."

"You don't know that would've happened." Asahi murmured. Ukai shrugged. "Suga is going to kill you."

"Whatever, I'll let him gripe, isn't going to change what happened. And hopefully this little experience has shown you where you stand on this ship. We aren't your friends. Don't forget that."

Kageyama only glared after him when Ukai left. "Forget that guy," Asahi said. "He's just old and bitter."

"Yeah…" Kageyama had many experiences, but he wasn't thrilled to add a knife at his throat to them.

Asahi and him were silent for a while before Asahi glanced up at him and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah." He would've sounded more convincing if his voice hadn't cracked in the middle, and if his eyes weren't filling with tears.

A/N I'm so sorry to make Ukai kind of a bad guy, I actually really like him. He just really doesn't like Kageyama or the Fire Nation in general and he'll be the hardest to win over, right up there with Tsukki! Don't worry, next chapter is some hugs, and just healing from this chapter. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Reviews are love.